As Absalom goes about his work, Carson begins to examine Celia. All the while he speaks prayers for those who Absalom is escorting to the long, dark night. Helm, watch over these souls as they travel from this place of suffering, and away from the hands of the Lady of Decay.
Lanezra rushes to the departing Myconid, heading for its Mistress, and tries to delay it until we are finished administering the help we are able to give.
"I believe I saw a Symbol of Madness in the gloriously beautiful decay; please, you must come and look at it as it must be a command from your Mistress."
*Lanezra readies an attack or grapple if the Bluff doesn't work -- anything to keep the mind-maddened-Myconid to delay.
The myconid turns out excitedly as the mutation disappears from Celia's body. Symbol! Where is this message from my mistress?
"Come back this way; it's somewhere in the fungus that so deliciously has fed on these people, decaying their very souls. Take your time and we'll find it again."
Lanezra, coming back to where Absalom and Carson are trying desperately to heal Celia, inconspicuously gestures and silently mouths 'whew' to his allies as he and the Myconid take time to search for a Symbol, presumably from Zuggtmoy, giving them time to heal the poor lady.
The warrior priest speaks to the woman, "We will need to watch you for a recurrence. Fungi are notoriously difficult to get rid of. I am Carson. We'll get you out of this place." He helps the woman to her feed and looks to see if Absalom is done with his work as he approaches Lanzera.
While pretending to look with the Myconid for a 'symbol of Zuggtmoy' Lanezra does look for any Abyssal clues in both the mass of decaying fungi and the poor Myconid.
You find what appears to be a half buried holy symbols hidden among the puss and decay. You see that is appears to be two demons, one being Demorgorgon, and another appears to Zuggtomoy
....Once it appears Carson and Absalom have done what they can for the poor lady, and it seems that they're ready to move on to go have tea and crumpets with the Myconid's Mistress of Zuggtmoy,....
"Do you see," pointing at a random bit of decaying cyst, oddly shaped and dripping of puss, "That's a message from Zuggtmoy; it reveals her alliance with Graz'zt in their conspiracy to betray Demogorgan and destroy his Cult, all for the Awesome Stench of Zuggtmoy!"
Carson assists Celia to her feet. "I would recommend bringing her along for the moment. I would hate to have her beset by other fungal cultists, as I am sure there are more than this one. Shall we continue and see what this brings? Steel yourselves. Remember last time we met a demon prince..."
"Indeed," Absalom says. "Let us go forth to meet this...demon."
The myconid does not seem to listen to you, as he is too busy staring at a shadow moving across the ground.
Suddenly, a disgusting larval creature rises up before you, showing only
vestigial fungal growths that hint that it might once have been a myconid.
Welcome, travelers The aberrant myconid's voice
gurgles and spits as it speaks both aloud and in your
minds at once. Are you here for the wedding rehearsal?
Friends of the bride or her intended? No matter! Let the
love of the Great Seeder embrace you as you become one
with her chosen. the Great Body!
Carson is slightly revolted by the fungal creature, but the previous experience of the living being consumed by the garden of fungus was way more horrifying. He steeled himself for whatever may come.
Two mutated figures burst out of the ground. They look like horrible versions of your captors, with half their features being mushrooms.....In fact, they do bear a resemblance to two of your former guards! At the same time, a myconid rushes out of the dark at your myconid companion, while the mad myconid hunter turns around and rushes at you with a spear!
init order:
Spore servant 2
Lanezra
Myconid 1
Myconid 2
Allied Myconid
Absalom
Carson
One of the mutated drow rushes towards Carson with a sword and strikes out at him!
Carson reels from the creature's surprise attack. Should have known that was coming."GO! I'll hold them off!"
Lanezra begins to head towards the disgusting larva Why are you doing this? We are servants of Zuggtomoy as well!
The first myconid charges Absalom, and swings his fists!
The second myconid rushes toward Hirt (The non-corrupted myconid hunter), but suddenly stops. Reaching a hand out towards its enemy, it releases what appears to be spores towards Hirt. Mutations start growing on the myconids body, and he begins emitting noises of pain, but they suddenly stop as Hirt's constitution appears to fight the curse of Zuggtomoy!
Hirt grips his spear and charges towards the other mycond!
It buries deep into his enemies shoulder, and green blood begins to leak out!
Carson steps in front of Lanzera. "Stay behind me, my friend! I'll cover your retreat! Raising his shield, he calls upon Helm's holy power. The flash of silvery light from his shield surrounds him.
Hearing Lanezra's cries, Absalom steps back and launches a volley of arcane energy at the spore creature.
After crying out to the corrupted Myconids, "Why are you doing this? You see the Larval Spore Creature has been tainted by the traitor, Demogorgon -- it must know of our plans. We must kill it for the Profane Glory of our Mistress Zuggtmoy!"
Lanezra then rushes to a position behind Carson, reaches out with a malevolent cry, "Foolish mortal, This will make you follow the molding path of Zugtmoy to her revolting wedding!"
Lanezra's hand glows with the light of Oghma as he pours all of his magical healing into his injured comrade.
"KILL the Demogorgon-Tainted traitorous Spore Creature!"
The myconids turn and look at you oddly. They then turn to look at the spore creature, and begin advancing upon it menacingly. The two former-drow-turned-spore servants begin to advance upon the creature, but they suddenly drop to the ground, screaming and writhing in horrible convulsions. This appears to happen at the same time Absaloms magic missiles slam into the creature, causing him to stumble and groan!
As the two myconids advance on their former master, the spore creature looks at them coolly, and in your thoughts, you can sense him emanating a sense of smugness. Just as you feel as if you have gained a major advantage, the spore creature starts laughing, sending chills down your spine FOOLS! Our Mistress has no quarrel with the Prince of Demons, and so, your little gambit will do nothing!
Lanezra grabs his halberd, grits his teeth, and swings his sword at the spore creature, shouting a prayer for Oghma, which seems to come onto his lips on his own.
The sword smashes into the spore creature, but it simply laughs and shrugs it off, sending both myconids towards the new paladin of Oghma.
Hirt rushes towards Lanezra and attempts to help him by attacking one of the myconids
From his place behind his companions, Absalom once again mutters an enchantment. A ray of icy blue energy streaks out from his hands, slamming into the spore creature.
"Kill the Larval Spore Creature; it doesn't know of Demogorgon's conspiracy to betray our Mistress!"
And taking the attacks from the Myconids, Lanezra drops in a bloody heap on the ground.
Now both myconids look confused. They stand still and look towards the spore creature, which is currently writhing on the ground.
for bludgeoning damage if hit.
Carson steps in front of the first creature, interposing himself between it and Lanzera, and swings at the other. The polished brass knob at the end of the broken ash shaft flashes in the light as it arcs down toward the fungoid creature.
Yes. Here is the situation:
Lanezra is unconsciousCarson has taken 10 dmg. He might be unconscious, depending on how much hp you have
Absaloms has hit the spore creature with a spell, causing it to start writhing
Lanezra has confused the myconids. They do not attack, and are distracted. You have an attack of opportunity, if you are not unconscious. This is because they are distracted
In my last post, I said you both get an ooc. You probably figured it out, but I meant an attack of opportunity
The fungal creature slams its fist into Carson's head. For a moment, Carson thinks he is fond, but then his vision goes blurry, and he sees two, then four, then countless of the creature before him. Time slows. He cries out, "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii'llllllllllllllllllllllllll hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooolllllllllllll........" and then his vision dims to a pinpoint, and he slumps to the ground, unconscious.
Seeing his comrades fall, Absalom steps off to the side, shouting "Begone, fiend! Away to your dreadful master!"
The blast of fire smashes into the spore creature, burning it to death just as the two myconids seem to make up their mind, charging their format master with j spears and stabbing it's burned corpse. After realizing that it is dead, the myconid begin to head towards your original destination (the wedding) without a word
I will deal out XP when I am back to my books
After the spore creature dies, Absalom starts tending to Carson and Lanezra's wounds as best he can.
Hirt rushes of, before returning with what looks to be a piece of fungus Eat this. It will ease the pain
It appears that Abslom has enough skill to wake up Carson, but not Lanezra
All is black. All is silent. Out of that silence comes the clash of steel on steel, the warcries of the drow and his comrades, the grunts and screams of the wounded, the sobbing and cries of the dying. Slowly, the blackness resolves into blurry motion. Jerky at first, but then more defined and smooth. The sounds of battle dimmed, the moans of the dying one by one faded into the quiet whistle of the wind. A figure above him, blurry, but surrounded in a halo of red. Muffled speech which he could not understand and something cool pressed to his forehead. Another blurred figure and the smell of damp decay and fungus as something was pressed against his lips.
كل هذا. وسوف تخفيف الألم.
The warrior priest attempted to determine what the figure was saying.
Սա ուտում: Դա կլինի թեթեւացնել ցավը.
It was getting clearer.
Eat ਖਾਓ. ਇਹ ਦਰਦ ease ਸੌਖਾ pain.
He allowed his lips to open and accept the firm earthy morsel. A long moment passed, and all came into resolution. Above him was Absalom and Hirt, and he remembered it all. The myconids. Zuggtmoy. The fingal worm and the wedding.
He sat up and gasped, Lanezra! He looked around to see his companion laying a couple feet behind him, his face pale with blood matting his hair. Carson reached out a hand, through the pain, to touch the fey-touched man. He gasped out a few words, "GIVI OD MICALP The holy symbol carved into his palm flared with silver light, and spread to encompass Lanezra.
Carson manages to heal Lanezra with his spell. Waking up, he sees Hirt hand him a piece of fungus, as well as hear him speak in his thoughts, telling him to eat the fungus.
Still badly injured, Lanezra stands and nods appreciatively for Carson's healing and Absalom's magical artillery. He looks at the woman they helped and the crumpled, decaying form before them.
It sucks that the corrupted myconids will make it to the 'wedding' without us to destroy it and figure out what's going on, but we're in no shape to continue.
"Gimme a second guys," and Lanezra limps painfully to the pile of decay from which they saved the girl and tried to confuse the crazed Myconids.
There may not be any people left to save but maybe some of the dead ones have a suit of chain mail or something I can wear.
Lanezra takes a few moments to look over the bodies of the unfortunate molding victims looking for armor.
Carson nods, "Take some time, but be careful. Lets get out of here and back to the hunter camp. I have some healing prayers left, so once you are done there, Lanzera, lets get you patched up some. Once Lanzera is done, he lays his hands on the man. His holy symbol flares and the silver light settles onto the man's wounds, and they visibly seal.
It appears that any pieces of armor have long since rotted away. However, as you glance back towards Carson and Absalom, you notice a glint in the corner, hidden under a few twisted bodies
"I could do with a rest myself," Absalom mutters. Adjusting his glasses, he moves Celia into a sitting position in preparation for their journey back to the camp.
While waiting for Carson and Lanezra, Absalom ponders over the 'wedding' that was mentioned. What could such a thing mean, and had such a thing happened before?
Lanezra checks the bodies of the Drow in the corner for armor or anything useful, including the glint of hope in the corner.
You do not remember anything that is both a "wedding", and associated with Zuggtomoy
As you head towards the glint in the corner, your eyes go wide. A cache of magic items, including a bag of holding, two scrolls, and what appears to be an enchanted shortsword and a piece of leather armor.